Missions 4 Monday - Autoimmune Checklist & Other Important Information

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Autoimmune Disease Checklist: A Handy List of Symptoms That Can Point to Possible Autoimmune Conditions, to Bring to the Doctor
by Mary Shomon

The following is a partial checklist of frequently-noticed symptoms of the most common autoimmune conditions. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it covers many of the common autoimmune symptoms and conditions. Carefully filling out this checklist and taking it to your doctor can be an important first step in getting appropriate testing and the right medical diagnosis. (For more information on autoimmune conditions, read, Do You Have An Autoimmune Disease? ) For the check list please click here:

List of Autoimmune Diseases
http://www.aarda.org/research_display.php?ID=47

Women and Autoimmune Diseases - http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/autoimmune-diseases.cfm

Autoimmune Diseases
URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/autoimmunediseases.html

Your body's immune system protects you from disease and infection. But if you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake. Autoimmune diseases can affect many parts of the body. These diseases tend to run in families. Women - particularly African-American, Hispanic-American, and Native-American women - have a higher risk for some autoimmune diseases.

There are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases, and some have similar symptoms. This makes it hard for your health care provider to know if you really have one of these diseases, and if so, which one. Getting diagnosed can be frustrating and stressful. In many people, the first symptoms are being tired, muscle aches and low fever.

The diseases may also have flare-ups, when they get worse, and remissions, when they all but disappear. The diseases do not usually go away, but symptoms can be treated.

Start Here
Autoimmune Diseases(National Women's Health Information Center) - http://womenshealth.gov/faq/autoimmune-diseases.cfm
Overviews
Autoimmune Disorders(American Association for Clinical Chemistry ) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/conditions/autoimmune.htmlDiagnosis/Symptoms
ANA (Antinuclear Antibody Test)(American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ana/test.html
C-Reactive Protein (CRP)(American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/crp/test.html
Fluorescent Antinuclear Antibody (FANA) Test: "False Positive"(American College of Rheumatology) - http://www.rheumatology.org/public/factsheets_original/fana.asp
Tips for Getting a Proper Diagnosis of an Autoimmune Disease (American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association) - http://www.aarda.org/infocus_article.php?ID=15Treatment
How Rheumatologists Use Chemotherapy(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://my.clevelandclinic.org/rheumatology_immunology/disorders/rheumatoid_arthrCoping
Coping with Autoimmunity(American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association) - http://www.aarda.org/coping.php Disease Management
Living Well with a Rheumatic Disease(American College of Rheumatology) - http://www.rheumatology.org/public/factsheets/diseases_and_conditions/livingwell
Common Thread (American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association) - http://www.aarda.org/common_thread.php
Environmental Factors --What Role in Autoimmune Diseases?(American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association) - http://www.aarda.org/infocus_article.php?ID=33
Sex Differences in Autoimmune Disease (Society for Women's Health Research) - http://www.womenshealthresearch.org/site/PageServer?pagename=hs_facts_autoimmuneAnatomy/Physiology Immune System (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/immuneSystem/
Organizations
American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association - http://www.aarda.org/
American College of Rheumatology - http://www.rheumatology.org/
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases - http://www.niams.nih.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://www.niams.nih.gov/Portal_En_Espanol/
Newsletters/Print Publications
InFocus Newsletter(American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association) - http://www.aarda.org/articles.php Teenagers
Immune System (Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/body_basics/immune.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/teen/en_espanol/cuerpo/immune_esp.html Women
Autoimmune Disease in Women (American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association) - http://www.aarda.org/women_and_autoimmunity.php
Living with Autoimmune Diseases (National Women's Health Information Center) - http://womenshealth.gov/pub/2007daybook/autoimmune/
Pregnancy & Rheumatic Disease (American College of Rheumatology) - http://www.rheumatology.org/public/factsheets/diseases_and_conditions/pregnancy.
You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:
Addison's Disease - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/addisonsdisease.html
Diabetes Type 1 - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabetestype1.html
Guillain-Barre Syndrome - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/guillainbarresyndrome.html
Lupus - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/lupus.html
Multiple Sclerosis - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/multiplesclerosis.html
Myasthenia Gravis - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/myastheniagravis.html
Rheumatoid Arthritis - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/rheumatoidarthritis.html
Immune System - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/immunesystem.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Autoimmune Diseases is the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases - http://www.niams.nih.gov/

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Date last updated: January 16 2009
Topic last reviewed: August 14 2008